Bojangles Famous Chicken and Biscuits has closed in Columbus.
The restaurant’s last day open for business was Wednesday. This morning a handful of people turning into the business’ parking lot were met with a message running across the restaurant’s electronic marquee: “CLOSED,” “Thank you for your business” and “Visit us in Starkville.”
Bill Cunningham, a Starkville resident, opened the franchise restaurant in January 2012 on Highway 45 North at the site that had previously housed a Taco Bell.
Cunningham, who owns the Bojangles in Starkville, did not respond to calls seeking comment.
A note signed by “Bill and Pat Cunningham” taped to the Columbus location’s front door this morning read: “To our wonderful Bojangles customers, due to personal reasons we have closed the Columbus Bojangles store. This has been a very hard decision to make, but a necessary one. We thank you for your business and your support. Our Starkville store is still open, we hope to see you there.”
Sherri Pettit, a Caledonia resident, tried going through the drive-through window a little after 8 a.m. today. Pettit said she had been stopping at the restaurant and ordering a plain biscuit most every morning on her way to work since it opened.
“They weren’t greasy,” she said of the biscuits. “They were fluffy, they were good. I just saw that sign and I couldn’t believe it.”
Bojangles restaurant began in Charlotte, N.C., more than three decades ago and has roughly 500 U.S. locations. Cunningham’s Starkville location was the first Bojangles in Mississippi.
William Browning was managing editor for The Dispatch until June 2016.
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